New NTUC Youth Taskforce to engage 10,000 youths on their work-life aspirations

In 12 months' time, this taskforce will put forth recommendations on how to better support young Singaporeans in their work-life aspirations, as they transition from students to working adults.

The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) has launched the NTUC Youth Taskforce to engage 10,000 youths to better understand their work-life aspirations, especially in the areas of career, finances, and mental wellbeing, and better serve their needs and support them in their careers.

This taskforce, officiated on 23 July 2022 (Saturday) at LIT DISCOvery 2022, will be chaired by NTUC Assistant Secretary-General (ASG) Desmond Choo, and supported by Wendy Tan, Young NTUC Executive Secretary.

What the taskforce will be embarking on in the next 12 months

The taskforce will be embarking on engagements with youths between 18 and 25 years old to find out more about their aspirations, goals, anxieties, and worries at work, the workplace, and in the workforce. These engagements will be carried out in partnership with government agencies, institutes of higher learning (IHLs), self-help groups, youth-targeted organisations, youth groups, and more. 

According to NTUC, youths in this age range have specifically been selected for the taskforce "as they are at a life stage where they start planning how they want their careers to kick off and how that will fit into their overall work-life aspirations."

As part of this year-long initiative, youths will be sharing their views through surveys, focus group discussions, and other activities — for instance, the Youth Hub, a roving exhibition which was also launched on Saturday. Through this hub, the taskforce seeks to engage youths through a series of activities where they can share their aspirations and concerns; take a career profiling test, and learn new tips on starting their new job or internship right for career success. With plans to partner IHLs, this Youth Hub will rove around various schools as well as spaces intended for youths.

At the end of the one year, the NTUC Youth Taskforce will share insights and put forth recommendations on how to better support these youths in their work-life aspirations, as they transition from being students to working adults.

Additionally, the taskforce will engage young Singaporeans who pursue non-traditional tracks such as sports, arts, and entrepreneurship. This includes youths who had struggled in their earlier years as well, such as those in need of second chances.

Speaking to the youths present at the event, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong, who officiated the launch, said the conversations and insights derived from the engagements will also feed into the national Forward Singapore exercise, launched in the recent weeks.

"By doing so, we ensure that the concerns and aspirations of a new generation of workers are heard and reflected in our policies as well as our programmes and we ensure that your voice will always be heard, and your inputs will be taken into consideration, and all of you will have a say in co-creating our future as we chart our new way forward together," he said.

Sharing his views, NTUC Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng, who was present at the launch, said: "Youths will make up a large proportion of our workforce in future. As NTUC resolves to refresh and strengthen its compact with workers, we will look at the needs of our youths and help them in their careers amidst local and global challenges, so that they would have a better future."

ASG Choo added: "We have been engaging the youths over the years and when we gathered these insights, we found that there is so much more about youths that NTUC can help them with at work and in their lives.

"Through the NTUC Youth Taskforce initiative, it’s time for us to dive deeper and find out more on what exactly inspires them and what we can do to help them not only succeed but also to empower them amidst the myriad of opportunities and anxieties faced at work."

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Photo / Provided by NTUC (Pictured L-R: NTUC Assistant Secretary-General Desmond Choo, NTUC Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong, NTUC President Mary Liew, and Young NTUC Executive Secretary Wendy Tan)

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